Friday, November 27, 2009

I made a whole turkey a couple times and it came out great. But, it takes a lot of time and work. One year we ate out. Another time, I baked skinless and boneless turkey breast, which didn't come out exactly like I wanted. This year, I decided to try something different. I baked two legs and turkey breast with wing.

I like stuffing and this year I used microwavable Mexican rice, which I partially cooked, mixed with duck sauce and bread. Since I couldn't stuff the turkey, I stuffed the skin, which I pulled almost off, and the rest of the stuffing I put underneath. I baked the turkey at 325 degrees, 30 minutes uncovered, 3.5 hours covered with an aluminum tent, basting every half an hour. The stuffing kept the meat from overcooking and losing moisture while keeping the skin separated and stretched, which gave it a nice brown color and made it thin and quite tasty.

I recommend always mixing the duck sauce into the stuffing. As for the turkey itself, smear the duck sauce inside and out, including under the skin. Add some water to pan to use for basting. Apples, quartered and placed around the turkey are also a good addition.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

I've been learning Hiragana and I've found that grouping characters by similar appearance helped me to remember them better.

き(ki)さ(sa)ち(chi)ら(ra)

Bottom of sa is facing in the same direction as top of s. c and h and chi come before k in ki so chi is 1 and ki is 2 and chi has 1 line and ki has 2. To remember these are similar, Sachiko has sa and chi, Sara has sa and ra, chi (Chinese) = ki (Japanese).

く(ku)へ(he)

ku is the right part of k

は(ha)ほ(ho)a in ha comes before o in ho so ha is 1 and ho is 2 and ha has 1 line and ho has 2

め(me)ぬ(nu)

n follows m and nu is a continuation of me. Menu.

す(su) む(mu)

sumo misspelled as sumu and mu is a continuation of su

ろ(ro) る(ru)

u is after o and ru is a continuation of ro

に(ni) こ(ko)

n is after k an ni looks like ko with a vertical stroke. Neko misspelled as niko.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A friend, who recently got married, was talking to a single friend. The single friend said that it's cool that she married a guy from her shul. My friend replied that yes, it is and that the single friend should participate in singles mixers in order to meet a guy. This single friend only does the Elders of Zion approved shidduch dating. The married friend also mentioned that it's already the third marriage that resulted from mixed talking after shul and during kiddush. To this, the single friend spat back that "Your shul needs a shadchan!"

Me thinks this single friend is confusing singles mixers with singles orgies. Probably thinks my friend's shul is a "wretched hive of scum and villainy".

Am I not getting something? Is the shadchan needed to make sure that any unsuitable marriages not take place? To prevent undue mingling? To make sure the shul doesn't keep its' singles to itself and instead share them with the outside world? Huh? People not getting married, bad. People getting married, also bad? What?

I've commented on several posts that a lot of my friends married their girlfriends/boyfriends and did it without the aid of any shadchans. If you want to get married, go do something about it yourself! What makes people think that their mommies and shadchans will find someone for them? The mommies will look for a spouse for their kidult that they themselves will like. While the shadchans' main concern is to move inventory, earn money and keep any damaged goods out of the system.

Want to stay single? Use only the Elders of Zion approved dating method, complain about every potential match and blame the system. Want to get married? Do something about it!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Just came home from a friend's birthday party. A lot of food, booze, good company. The event was held at Benny's on Ocean Avenue and Avenue M. The place is under Rabbi Gornish.

As we're sitting and eating, a frummie couple walks in. Penguin suit and all. The hashgocha is posted in the window and is hard to miss and if you missed it, why would you even go in. They look around and decide to sit down. Then they start grilling the waiter on the origins of the establishment's chicken. Even after being told it's Rubashkin, and after wasting the waiter's time with their moronic questions, they just left without eating.

The guy looked familiar. I wouldn't be surprised if they're psycho BTs. Before you go into a restaurant, you check the hashgocha. If you trust the hashgocha, sit down, shut up, and eat. If you don't trust the hashgocha, what are you even doing there?! And if you don't trust the hashgocha, who says the staff aren't gonna lie to you about where their meat comes from. And if you're an idiot who takes upon himself every chumra he hears about, what are you even doing in a meat restaurant, or any kind of restaurant.

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